Inventory forecasting, inventory management, and stock keeping unit (SKU) management costs are a significant burden to many computer system manufacturers. To satisfy a variety of markets and budgets, many computer system manufacturers offer a wide variety of computer systems to accommodate consumers. While such variety makes personal computers available to a wider spectrum of consumers, it adds complexity to the manufacturing process that, when left unaddressed, may result in quality and efficiency problems.
Various storage architectures with distinct attributes have been developed to address varying computing needs. Considering, for example, a blade server system, the architecture of such system is a fast-developing server architecture. Each blade server is composed of a system board having a storage configuration. The system board of each blade server usually includes CPUs, RAM or hard drives, and thus each blade server can be considered as an isolated server. A plurality of blade servers can be bundled in a chassis of the blade server system and share the same power supplies. The BladeCenter™ HS21 (Type 8853) and the BladeCenter™ HS21XM (Type 7995), developed by IBM, are examples of blade servers having distinct storage configurations. Each BladeCenter™ HS21 can install at most two 2.5 inch SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) hard disks, while each BladeCenter™ HS21XM can install at most one 2.5 inch SAS hard disk and one or two optional solid-state hard disks (SSD). However, neither of the blade server models mentioned above can readily install a SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) hard disk.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a flexible novel storage architecture having system hardware for determining a storage configuration for use in a variety of computer systems via a simple hardware change. Such novel storage architecture would save cost of procurement and testing and would also save cost in terms of manpower, resources, and time required for developing a mechanical structure for each different platform.